As the U.S. imposes more sanctions on North Korea, Pyongyang tears up the armistice on the 1953 conflict. The WSJ's Alastair Gale tells us why the move may be primarily symbolic.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... the the ... thus a single and South Korea I continue to deteriorate after Pyongyang tore up the nineteen fifties armistice that ended the conflict ... and ever con joining me now is Alister gal from Seoul ... a K Alastair presumably visit the highly symbolic gesture made ... by North Thackeray about what is this really mean for relations on the Korean Peninsula ... will ... cripples has ... reached deals to several times before so it is done ... no the South Koreans ... U S will submit its ... weekly this is something that I want to say armistice haunted by itself ... so it doesn't really mean a whole lot of calls ... the objective is for the North Koreans has tried to raise rates fiction ... so the so the US um considers it will switch on ... and Africa for the first major confrontation ... North Korea have had a way to the outside world under the leadership of Kim Jiang and ... so how is he an emerging as a leader ... will we love story that yes they can travel to the South Korean islands ... this is really hot spots in ... the area it's the ... maritime border that was torn off to the end of the Korean War ... there are several ... South Korean arms which were close to pre eminent ... so the instructions to the troops that should be prepared ... for conflict and he instructed them that if the Academy or that they need to cut the windpipe ... of the South Korean so ... he's been ... he's taken as of Tuesday to ... build himself up so strongly to ... items to this helps the folk got the message of the little that is in control ... I can't questioning her data and the NFA of sanctions against North Korea ... U S and China also involved ... in in in in in this ancient ... so I I do know though that the US is recently and there is an additional set of sanctions when exactly are today ... it's a will that is the tricycle and the U S House ... of the assumptions on Nov Prisma in foreign exchange bank ... as well as sections of trouble sanctions on specific North Korean ... officials which it did so with that too big to get the weapons program ... so the US is basically saying that one is to be done beyond U N sanctions ... to try and come down on Olam ... you know there's been achieved to get from currencies to ... be engaged in trying ... um what interesting but we were just as the price of what's in the capsule Tong and has ... risen sharply ... people are different reasons but it may be that such honors for stretching the inflows into the north ... and up will be very interesting but of course is something to get ... and can say hey relations are getting any better with the outside world defense No Area launch that nuclear weapons I'm half ... thanks AmEx Alister joining us from Seoul for more on that story indebted Des beest dot com I'm Deborah con